Journal of Development Communication And Applied Theatre

The history of the creation of man from all literatures points to a superior being or godhead that is to be revered, worshipped and venerated. This has overtime created a gap surrounding different religions, especially in their developments over the centuries. The gap in fully understanding each religion has created a myth and dogma around it which often leads to conflict in most developing countries like Nigeria. This paper examined the myth and psychology of religion as a source of conflict in drama, identifying hate speech, intolerance, and misunderstanding of doctrines, among others, as the major sources of conflict. Drama, being a 'harvester' of conflict as a raw material, finds religious conflict a very important focus. The research adopts the content analysis of the qualitative research methodology. The case study, Ahmed Yerima's, Heart of Stone was purposively chosen the critical analysis.The study found in the character of Musa, a clear byproduct of religious bigotry, hypocrisy, manipulation, radicalization and violence in a developing country like Nigeria. The paper, therefore recommends, that steps should be taken to create areas of dialogue among religious adherents, enhancement of tolerance, openness and exchange of knowledge of doctrines, establishment of understanding and goodwill among religious leaders, reduction of poverty, unemployment and above all illiteracy, as very necessary in controlling the psychology of differences in religion, and ensuring peace.

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